LIVE: DRINKS – 09/09/2015
DRINKS – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Lights dance off the audience’s head, an ear piercing twang sounds from the guitar and Cate Le Bon stands to the side of Tim Presley, the White Denim bassist, with an unnerving presence. If this band didn’t consist of musicians of such pedigree, who knows if Soup Kitchen’s basement would be so full. But thankfully it is and we’re here with clear minds, all of us unsure of what lies ahead. The first song is... Read More
LIVE: FUTURE ISLANDS – 08/09/2015
Future Islands – ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – You just know the night’s going to be good when – even before you’ve stepped foot inside The Academy – someone undercharges you for a beer, Rooney beats Bobby Charlton’s goal scoring record and you bump into old, old friends, long lost, somehow having got away from you. So I can claim no critical objectivity when it comes to Future Islands. They took my 9/10 mood and cranked that bad boy all the way to... Read More
LIVE: HAIKU SALUT – 08/09/2015
Haiku Salut – HALLE ST. PETER’S, MANCHESTER – I’m not a religious man, so I don’t know off the top of my head where the Halle St Peter’s church is. A cursory Google informs me it’s deep in the heart of Ancoats, outside the comfort blanket of the usual Northern Quarter gig stomping ground. As it happens, it’s only five minutes into the Ancoats badlands, past abandoned pubs and empty mills, over such industrial sounding streets as Loom Street and Gun Street.... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: BEIRUT – NO NO NO
Beirut – No No No Beirut band leader Zach Condon’s story is film-worthy – as a young jazz trumpeter, he was exposed to mariachi music while growing up in Sante Fé, New Mexico. At 17, he dropped out of school and ran away to Paris after working in an international film cinema, where Sicilian funeral brass music and Balkan folk had caught his attention. He then returned to The University of New Mexico where he studied photography and Portuguese. With help from... Read More
Album Review: Exxasens – Back To Earth
“Things can get out of a black hole, both to the outside, and possibly, to another universe. So, if you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up. There’s a way out” (*). This is Stephen Hawking’s encouraging reflection on the everlasting human concern about what’s on the other side(s). Spanish progressive post-rock band Exxasens’ latest album, Back to Earth, could be the perfect soundtrack for the renowned scientist’s essay. A way to illustrate the... Read More
ANDREW HUNG NEW TRACK ‘REPETITION VS TIME’ AND ‘OFF THE BEATEN TRACK’ PODCAST
Andrew Hung has announced the follow-up to March’s ‘Rave Cave’ EP with a new track, ‘Repetition vs Time’. Fittingly taken from ‘Rave Cave 2’, ‘Repetition vs Time’ was written whille touring last year as one half of Fuck Buttons. The whole EP will be available on the 13th November ahead of Andrew’s debut UK solo show at London’s The Lexington on 23rd November. Full details of all upcoming solo dates are below, including... Read More
POSTCARDS FROM JEFF TO RELEASE NEW LP ‘MODERN LANGUAGE’
The debut album will be released on 23rd October via Alien Boutique. Producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Joss Worthington (Postcards From Jeff) had this to say about the new record: “Modern Language explores the hyper connected world we all live in, how we communicate with one another, and how misunderstandings and misgivings affect our lives,” reveals Postcards From Jeff’s alter ego Joss Worthington. “It’s the voice of someone trying to make sense of... Read More
SLIM TWIG RELEASES THANK YOU FOR STICKIN’ WITH TWIG
Slim Twig’s new album, Thank You For Stickin’ With Twig, is out now on DFA Records and he’ll be touring North America in support of it with a full band starting next month. Ahead of the tour, Twig is sharing a brand new video for Thank You For Stickin’ With Twig track ‘Fadeout Killer’. The video features Twig’s wife Meg Remy (4AD’s U.S. Girls) and sister Lulu Hazel. Director David Rendall explains, “It’s about a runner running a race against... Read More
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING RELEASE NEW VIDEO
The next single to be taken from their new album The Race For Space is ‘The Other Side’, a real live favourite with fans and also the band. They have revealed a new live video of the track being performed at the Secret Garden Festival in July. J. Willgoose, Esq., the mastermind behind PSB, describes the track as the “most emotional moment” from their newly release album The Race For Space.UK TOUR 17th November – Queens Hall, Edinburgh 18th November –... Read More
LIVE: CUZ – 03/09/2015
CUZ – THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Cuz is a collaboration between Mike Watt of The Stooges and Sam Dook of The Go! Team. The pair met whilst with their respective bands at a festival in Australia in 2006, became friends and went on to release a full-length record as Cuz last year. I had initially assumed that the LP’s title, Tamatebako, must refer to a rival product of Homer Simpson’s tomacco, but some Wikipedia research revealed the word to mean “an origami model... Read More
